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Durian Fruit is produced by a tropical tree that can grown 100 feet tall (40 metres.)

Though there are many varieties, the fruit is generally about the size of a soccer ball, with a thick, brownish-green spiky skin (it look a bit like a hedgehog curled up.) The trees are so tall, that it's "harvested" simply by waiting for it to fall off the trees. A Durian tree needs 10 years before it can start to fruit.

Inside the fruit is a large brown seed surrounded by a creamy yellow pump. Though the fruit is very sweet, it's also quite stinky: to some, the "aroma" is a cross between rotten fish and old socks, or onions that have gone bad. Because of the smell, in Singapore it is forbidden to carry it on public transportation.

Choose a Durian fruit with no holes or splits in it. When you shake it, there should be no rattle inside, but there should be a muffled sound. If there is no sound at all, it is not ripe. There should be a slight smell -- no smell means not ripe. Too much smell means past it -- you shouldn't be able to detect the true extent of the smell until you open it.

Cooking Tips
The fruit can be eaten raw or cooked with. It's often cooked in coconut milk to mask the smell. To some people's tastes, though, no matter how you try to cook it, it still tastes like it smells.

The seeds can be sliced and fried.

Nutrition
Per 100g: 150 calories

Language Notes
Duri in Malaysian means "thorn".

Also called:

Other entries for: Exotic Fruit

Abiu, Acerola, Ackee, Atemoya, Bread Fruit, Caimito, Canistel, Carissa, Chempedak, Custard Apple, Durians, Feijoa, Jaboticaba, Jackfruit, Java Apples, Jujube Fruit, Karanda, Longan, Lychee Fruit, Malay Apples, Mangosteen, Marang, Pawpaw, Pitahaya Fruit, Prickly Pears, Pulasan, Rambutans, Rose Apple, Soursop, Star Anise Fruit, Sugar Apples, Tamarillos, Tejocotes, Water Apple, Ximenia, Yellow Mombin

Other entries for:

Fruit
Bananas, Bletting, Candied Fruit, Citrus Fruit, Dried Fruit, Drupes, Hard Fruit, Olives, Rhubarb, Soft Fruit